1: a wind instrument consisting of a long cylindrical metal tube commonly once or twice curved and ending in a bell2: something shaped like a trumpet3: a sound like that of a trumpet

How do you use it?

Louis Armstrong was perhaps the world's most famous trumpet player, and was known for his ability to play with dazzling speed and power over a wide range of notes.

Are you a word wiz?

For about 700 years English speakers have been using "trumpet" to name a cylindrical metal instrument ending in a bell. Can you guess which of the words below has NOT been used for that long?

A. cornet

B. bugle

C. flute

D. clarinet

Blow your own horn if you chose D! The words "flute," "bugle," "cornet," and "trumpet" all go way back to the 1300s. The word "clarinet," however, dates only to the 1700s. Can you guess what else all of these instruments we've mentioned have in common, linguistically-speaking? Their names came into English from French. The history of the word "flute" takes center stage, though. The French root word of "flute" is probably of imitative origin; that is, the word imitates the sound made by the flute.